


before i met you, i never felt good enough

by anothermikaelson



Series: of wristrockets and skateboards [5]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Lumax, Multi, Neil is an asshole, Post Season 3, a lot of fluff, can we just give max a hug tho, i suck at writing 3rd person but it'd work better this way so BEAR WITH ME, lumax getting their deserved screen time, okay i lied this is pretty angsty honestly, steve harrington being the ICONIC soccer mom we all love, the byers and el never left hawkins okay jeez
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-12
Updated: 2020-11-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:02:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27517306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anothermikaelson/pseuds/anothermikaelson
Summary: ever since billy died, neil's been taking his anger out on max. when the party (and steve) find out, they decide to teach him a lesson.--post season 3~(WILL AND EL NEVER LEFT OKAY)--aka max being a kicked puppyaka steve harrington turning on momster mode
Relationships: Eleven | Jane Hopper/Mike Wheeler (background), Maxine "Max" Mayfield/Lucas Sinclair
Series: of wristrockets and skateboards [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2011171
Kudos: 21





	before i met you, i never felt good enough

**Author's Note:**

> rated teen for language (i don't personally curse that often, but i felt like it today so...)  
> title from anna clendening's "boys like you"

Max knows she's late. It wouldn't be the first time, since Billy's death, so the party understands perfectly well.

This time, however, she knows it's different. She's actually about to break, at any moment. Trying to keep it down, she quickly skateboards to the Wheelers', hoping no one asks what's wrong. 

The party, fifteen minutes into their annual "thank god everyone's alive meeting", hear Nancy calling down to them that Max has arrived. 

Less than a minute later, Max storms down the stairs into the basement, silencing everyone. Max always throws some sarcastic remark their way when she enters a room. And she's rarely silent. 

Everyone watches as she stalks over to Lucas, who immediately scoots over to make room for her. She curls up next to him, tucking her feet in behind her, and buries her face in his arm, her hair obscuring her face. Lucas doesn't complain, but is surprised. Max pretty much never shows this much affection, with an occasional hug or kiss on the cheek. This is a first. 

After a moment of silence, Max mutters, "Carry on. But I'm _not_ in the mood." 

El, who is still trying to understand feelings, asks, "Max, are you okay?" 

Max resists the urge to scream. No, she is not okay. In fact, okay shouldn't even be a word anymore. That word can never live up to its meaning, not in her world. But she holds it back, for her best friend. "Just...tired." 

Luckily, El is satisfied with that answer, and goes back to whatever it is she's doing. Probably making out with Mike. Again. 

But Lucas won't leave it alone. "You're lying, Max." 

Max loosens her grip on his arm. "No, I'm not." 

"Yes, you are." He shifts around to face her, and tries to tuck her hair behind her ear, the thing that she absolutely loves to hate. Before he can though, she reaches up and bats his hand away. Lucas pulls his hand away. "Hey! That hurt." 

"That was the point, Stalker," Max grumbles. "Don't touch my hair." 

Lucas sighs in defeat. "Fine. But can you just look at me? I haven't seen you in three days." 

"No." 

Lucas, concerned, puts a hand on her cheek. Well, where he thinks her cheek is, at least. It's hard to see her when her hair covers her face. Max instantly flinches and jumps back. "What the-" Then he sees the bluish-purple bruise spreading from her nose to her left cheek. And the black eye that's clearly starting to swell. And the cut on her eyebrow, and her lip. "Who did this?" 

Max says nothing. 

"Max, I'm serious." Lucas's voice is dangerously low, lower and scarier than she's ever heard him. "Who the _hell_ did this to you?" 

At this, everyone in the room turns to them. Mike jumps up. "I'm getting the first-aid kit. And Nancy. She knows how to do this better than I do. Uh, should I get Steve, too?" No one responds. "I'm getting Steve." He runs up, Will following, to get the first-aid kit. 

Dustin speaks up. "Max, this is for real. Who did this?" 

Max bites her lip, shaking her head. "I fell off my skateboard." 

"Bullshit," Lucas instantly replies. "You'd at least have a broken nose if you got this badly injured falling off your skateboard." 

Nancy comes running down not long later. "Mike said you needed me--oh my god, Max." Will comes down with the shoebox-sized first-aid kit, and hands it to Nancy. 

Max stays silent throughout, letting Nancy fix her up. "Max, you need to tell us who did this." 

Mike comes down with an ice pack, and hands it to Max. She thanks him silently, and presses it to her face. She knows she's literally about to break. 

A tear slowly rolls down her face. Max silently congratulates herself for crying in front of everyone, at this time, right now. Then a rack of sobs start exploding out of her, and Lucas has to hold her as she slowly stains his shirt with tears. 

Steve enters not long later. "What happened this time?" He asks, exasperated. Then he notices Max. "Oh, god. Max, who did this to you? Was it Neil?" 

The slight nod coming right after her stepdad's name leads to complete chaos. Steve and Dustin beginning their revenge plan heavily involving the spiked bat, to Will simply asking if this means that they're not playing D&D, to Mike explaining to Eleven just _why_ Max's own stepdad would abuse her, everything is going about as well as Max thought it would. 

Nancy finishes cleaning up the cuts on Max's face, and heads back up to clean up. "I'll be back down in a bit, okay? I have to call someone, though." It's clear in her tone that she's calling Hopper. Or Joyce.

Max gives her a small smile as her sobs slowly come to a rest. "Max, why did Neil do this to you?" Lucas asks. 

"He...he found out th-that you and I are dating and h-he...he said I was a fi-filthy child. I defended you b-but he just jumped up and-and..." She gestures to her face. "I fought back. I-I kicked him in his...well, you know. Then I just grabbed something--a banana, I think--be-because I had to knock him out. I just hit him over the head and he..fell to the ground. Mom didn't say anything. She just stayed silent the WHOLE time." Max turns to look at the party. "I-I yelled at her too. I asked her why she didn't defend me. She said that she didn't want t-to get hurt. So I...I slapped her. She let me. Then I continued yelling at her...then I realized I was late, so, I-I tied Neil up in a chair, so he couldn't hurt my mom. Then I came here." She looks up, and whispers to Lucas. "I'm sorry." 

Lucas rubs circles on her back, and looks up. "That son of a bitch _hit_ you? Oh, I'm going to go over there right now and kick his-" 

"Wait, hold up." Steve stands up. "Was this the first time, Max?" He asks, softly. 

Max slowly shakes her head. "He never hit me, not once. Not until-until Billy died." 

"Was there a reason he started hurting you after Billy died?" 

"I...I wasn't supposed to hear this, but one time, I was eleven or twelve...he tried to come hurt me, because I snuck out after he and Billy fought again. But Billy told Neil to stay away from me. He said that Neil wasn't allowed to hurt me for the rest of his life. And then Billy died, so the rule just...lifted off, I guess. But Billy's taken so much for me." Her eyes water again. 

Mike comes closer to them. "Well, we know what we have to do now." 

Max looks up. "I've wanted to call the police for a long time now, but Mom would be devastated." 

"Your mom was abused too. She's a victim, and that means she'll be safer without him," Will says. 

"I called Joyce already. She's still at work for another half an hour, but I can call her back so she can tell Hopper to meet us at Max's house." Nancy stands at the top of the steps. 

"I'll still get to use my bat, though, right?" Steve asks, taking off his Scoops Ahoy hat. Max laughs lightly, smiling again. 

"And El gets to do something to him too, right?" Mike asks, taking El's hand. 

"Sure. Just don't make him scream or anything. It'll sound like we're the ones hurting him," Lucas says. "And also, Max?" 

"Hm?" 

"He's still tied up, right?"

"Maybe. My mom's still home, maybe she set him free."

"That just complicated our plan, but okay, then. Let's beat the shit out of this asshole." Max smiles widely. 

* * *

In no time, they're all heading across town to Max's house. Steve parks the car not far from their house, but close enough so that they can see what's happening. 

Will and Dustin are already in position, with Mike hiding behind a bush by the car so that no one sees him lingering in their backyard. Max is holding Lucas's hand so tight he thinks she's about to cut off his blood circulation, but he lets her anyway. 

El keeps looking out the window to make sure nothing goes wrong. Lucas grabs his walkie talkie. "Will, we're ready. Over." 

"Alright. I'm going in. Over." Will hands his walkie talkie to Dustin, and heads to the door, spreading fake blood all over the healing cut on his knee from a week ago. He knocks on the door. 

Susan opens the door. "Hi, how may I help--oh my god! What's wrong?" 

Will winces. "I fell off my bike. I was wondering if you have a bandage?" 

"Sweetie, why don't you come in? I can get you all fixed up." Will's eyes widen. He silently begs for Dustin to hurry up. 

"Oh, that's fine. I just need a bandage." 

"No, you should come in." 

Finally, Dustin comes over on his bike. "Will? Is that you? Oh, my god, what happened?" 

"I fell." 

"Oh. Ouch. Uhm, your mom wants you home, actually. She just called, and asked me to find you." 

"Really? Oh, I totally forgot, I was supposed to have a movie night with her and Jonathan tonight. Shit." 

"It's fine. Uh, I don't know how you're going to get home like this, though." 

Susan cuts in. "I can give Will a ride home, if that's fine with him." 

Will puts on a grateful face. "Yeah, that'd be great, actually. Dustin, will you be okay?" 

Dustin nods. "Yeah, I'm heading to meet Lucas, anyway. It's the opposite way, so I think I'll pass on that ride." 

Susan smiles widely, and helps Will into her car. "Alright, then. Have a good day, Dustin." 

Dustin smiles back. "Have a good day, ma'am." 

Soon, Susan and Will are on their way to the Byers', where Hopper is waiting, to talk to Susan. 

"Lucas, shoot. Now. Susan and Will are gone. Over." Dustin runs to the side of the house, where Mike is now, ready to get through Max's open window. 

"Roger that. Over." Lucas heads out, holding his wristrocket at eye level, and shoots a rock through the first-story window. 

Dustin's voice crackles through the walkie talkie. "I think Neil's coming. He's been untied. Quick, Nance, shoot his tires." 

Nancy, without hesitation, shoots the tires of Neil's car, preventing him from getting away. 

Neil, comes outside to the sound of gunshots, and his window being broken. "What the hell is going on?" He looks around, only to see no one. 

"Now, El!" Max says. It's the first thing she's said since the car. 

El narrows her eyes, and slams the door shut, locking Neil out of the house. He tries to get in his car, but his tires are flat. He tries to get back in the house, and El lets the door open just as Mike and Dustin get into the house. 

"Okay, guys, we're going in. NOW." Steve ushers everyone out of the car, and they all march straight to the door. Steve knocks on the door, where an exasperated Neil opens the door. 

"What do you guys want?" Max and Lucas, climbing through Max's open window, accidentally make noise going in, and Neil gets suspicious. "Who the hell are you guys?" 

Steve pulls out his bat, just as Nancy slams the door shut, locking it behind her. "What the--kid, put the weapon down." 

"No. You hurt my child--I mean, my friend, and I'm not letting you get away with it." 

"Your child? Who is this child? Put the weapon _down_." Neil steps back warily. "I'm calling the police." 

"It won't do a thing," calls Dustin from inside. "The police are interrogating your wife as we speak. For something we'd like to call domestic abuse." 

Neil pales slightly. "What are you talking about, brat?" 

Dustin steps back a little. "You hurt Max. And you're going to pay." 

As quick as possible, Neil darts forward and snatches the bat out of Steve's hand, throwing it out the broken window. "So what if I hurt her? Do you think the police will believe the words of a child over mine?" 

Nancy holds up her recorder. "We have proof right here. Your voice, on recording. Now shut up and come with us." 

"No." He darts toward her, trying to grab her arm, but Nancy grabs her gun and points it at him. "You wouldn't fire it at me." 

"Really?" Nancy cocks it. "I shot every one of your tires flat thirty feet away. And I bet I can shoot that apple right there." She aims and fires, the apple bits flying everywhere. "Now, come with us, or so help me, I will shoot you and leave you for dead." 

"Do you seriously think the neighbors can't hear the gunshots firing?" Neil taunts. 

Nancy smirks. "We've evacuated them all. Told them a hitman was coming. We're not wrong." She reloads the gun. "Now, come with us." 

"Hold up." Max's voice rings out. "I wanna punch him first." 

Neil turns around. "Oh, you hellchild finally came back, huh?" 

Max smiles. "I came with my friends. And my boyfriend. And my fist." She punches him straight in the jaw, and he falls on the ground. "I'm going to let Nancy do the rest." 

Nancy holds the gun pointed straight towards Neil. "You have a choice, you asshole. Head or heart? Or should I let you bleed out?" Neil doesn't say anything. "Alright, then. You're coming with us. And if you even dare say a word on the way to the police, I swear I will knock you out. If you even touch one of us, I will blow each one of your fingers off individually." He shudders, and Nancy points the gun at his head as Lucas ties Neil's hands together with some tape. Nancy leads him out of the house, and El hops on Mike's bike, as they all drive off to the Byers'. 

* * *

"So, Max. You're officially free of that man. What do you think of your life now?" Lucas asks, one night as they're lying on the grass in his backyard staring at the sky. 

Max smiles. "A lot better." 

"What's the best part?" 

"I get to see you without having that asshole beating me up for it." She blushes. 

Lucas sits up. "Really?" 

Max nods, letting her hair cover her face. "If you tell anyone I said that, I'm going to personally ask Nancy to blow your head off, you got that?" 

Laughing, Lucas nods. "Okay, MadMax." He kisses her softly. 

"Don't do that now, Stalker." 

He kisses her again. "Why not?" 

Max gives in, and kisses him back. "I hate you." 

"Keep telling yourself that." 


End file.
